Before that, the Wings played well but lost to the highly skilled Calgary Flames, played well in Vancouver but were stymied by the Canucks goaltender.

“We’ve been playing really well as of late,” Danny DeKeyser said. “Before the break, we weren’t getting the results there, in Calgary and Vancouver, but we are sticking with it and that’s good to see.

“I think we are maturing a little bit as a group. We have a little bit of a younger team than we’ve had in the past here this year and guys are starting to find their way. We’re playing well. We’re playing hard. We’ve had some tough games that haven’t gone our way, but I like the way we’ve stuck with it.”

The victory over the Maple Leafs was the Wings’ fourth in the previous six games. Twice they’ve won back-to-back games, something they hadn’t done since Dec. 1. They’ve come out with one good start after another, playing a fast, physical game.

“I think we’re all on the same page,” Gustav Nyquist said. “We know what we have to do to be successful. Most nights our effort is pretty good and we work hard for each other. So, a lot of positives.”

The Wings have been in every game since New Year’s Eve, losing that night in a shootout to Florida, losing a close game to the Flames at home, pushing back in Winnipeg after falling behind by three goals. The Wings don’t have the skill that marks the elite teams in the NHL, but they haven’t looked like they don’t belong.

“For the last number of games, I’ve thought we’ve outplayed our opponents,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We haven’t gotten the results for it. I talked to our team about that — from a process standpoint, if you can keep it up, you’re going to get results. If you don’t keep it up, then shame on us because you just wasted the building process.

Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates his third period goal with teammates while playing the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena on February 01, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit won the game 3-2 in overtime. Gregory Shamus, Getty Images

Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates his third period goal with Niklas Kronwall #55 while playing the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena on February 01, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit won the game 3-2 in overtime. Gregory Shamus, Getty Images

Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs dives for the puck past Nick Jensen #3 of the Detroit Red Wings during the third period at Little Caesars Arena on February 01, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit won the game 3-2 in overtime. Gregory Shamus, Getty Images

Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs tries to get a shot off between Jimmy Howard #35 and Mike Green #25 of the Detroit Red Wings during the third period at Little Caesars Arena on February 01, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit won the game 3-2 in overtime. Gregory Shamus, Getty Images

“We have taken away lots of space from teams and to do that you have to work real hard and I think our guys on a consistent basis have worked. The one area in our game that had to be better to get results was our special teams.”

Both clicked against the Leafs, who were denied on five power plays while the Wings scored on one of their man advantages. The Wings were the better team through two periods, but had a 1-1 score to show for it. They responded by continuing to play their game in the third period.

“I think in the past sometimes we’d force the issue and we’d start turning pucks over in bad situations and it cost us games,” Jimmy Howard said. “You’re seeing the younger guys play with a lot more maturity here as of late.”

The Wings are headed for a third straight playoffs miss, but what stands out is that it’s the young guys who are taking over this team. Henrik Zetterberg retired at the start of the season, and Dylan Larkin stepped in to fill the void. He scored his 22nd goal Friday before leaving with an upper-body injury, one shy of his career high. The growth shown by Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou (he had three assists against the Leafs), the potential of rookies Dennis Cholowski and Michael Rasmussen, hint that maybe the Wings will return to the playoffs as soon as next season. It’s the strongest identity the Wings have had since missing the playoffs for the first time in 25 seasons in 2017.

“From my first year till now, I thought my first year we were on enough nights a good team. And then the last couple years, we’e had to change the way we play. We’ve had to understand it and buy it not it and sometimes that’s a process. Guys have had to grow. A lot of that growth is happening. All those things combined put us in a spot where it looks like our arc is starting to move up.”